


grave dirt and broken nails

by very_mhairi



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Day 5: Nightmares, M/M, Widomauk Week 2019, dream sharing AU, interpret it as you will, no betas we die like men, soulmate-esque AU, this is more subtle widomauk than anything else?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 08:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18891001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/very_mhairi/pseuds/very_mhairi
Summary: Mollymauk and Caleb have taken each others' places in their dreams for years, including their nightmares. Molly has lived through Caleb's memories of murdering his parents, Caleb has lived through being buried alive, and everything in-between. The other is almost always present, too, just as a spectator, unable to affect anything going on but able to speak with and watch their partner as they go through the dream. For the first time since they were linked in this way, Molly has begun a dream alone.





	grave dirt and broken nails

**Author's Note:**

> y'all can thank the widomauk discord for this one. though i already posted it in there, i wanted to go ahead and solidify it here. i decided to bump it for day 5 of wm week, too. :)
> 
> might actually make this a series based off of the dream sharing including other dreams and how it came to be? dunno. we'll see. hope you guys enjoy!

It was the usual dream, which was unusual in itself. For years now, he shared dreams with Caleb. He didn't have dreams of his own anymore. He wasn't the one coming up from the grave anymore, trapped under the unforgiving earth. It wasn't any better, of course. Instead it was _Caleb_ who coughed up blood and dirt, Caleb whose fingernails bent backwards and snapped with the force and raw panic of being trapped and empty _empty_ empty **please** \--

But tonight was different. That was more terrifying than the dream itself, really. He opened his eyes and breathed in nothing but worms and soil, and he was _alone_ in the blackness. He was not spectating, he didn't feel his presence. He tried to speak but he didn't have any air to go through his lungs, and the loneliness was what really hurt. That was what made that familiar primal panic set in, making him claw upwards, desperate to break out and escape the all-encompassing, suffocating blackness that even his darkvision couldn't overcome. He'd hesitated, though. He'd hesitated, waited for Caleb, waited for the only comfort he'd been used to having, and now he was running out of air. He didn't have enough to get out of the ground. He didn't have enough to break six feet of crushing weight, six feet of hopelessness, six feet of death _again_. He could feel the world spinning even though he couldn't see it. He could see the red tints at the corners of his vision threatening that this was the end. This was it. No coming back. Leaving his corpse empty, broken, empty, empty, _empty_ , **empty**.

He clawed up desperately, feeling his fingernails pull back, but that pain was nothing in comparison to the overwhelming burn in his lungs and his veins. He clawed upwards and his hand didn't break the surface. He couldn't find a good hold to drag himself up with. He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to die here. He managed a sob, somehow, but he couldn't scream. He clawed upwards, and his hand began to fall limp. He clawed upwards, and...

He connected. A wonderful, blessed, familiar warm and calloused hand grabbed him by the wrist and tugged, yanking him up through the remaining earth until he broke the surface and heaved blood into the dirt. He was dragged into his wizard's lap as he coughed and wheezed, and he felt his rough hands also caked with dirt brushing his hair out of his face, his new tears off of his cheeks. "I am here, _schatz_ ," He promised quietly, holding on tight to his frail form.

“I am here,” He soothed, and when they woke up from his nightmare in the morning, for once, they were both calm.

**Author's Note:**

> i thrive off of positive validation, so comments and kudos are always appreciated. i'm very_mhairi in the widomauk discord, @very_mhairi on twitter, and @altcalliope on instagram if you want to scream w me about widomauk :)


End file.
